Loose-line system.



C. P. FERRERO.

I LOOSE LINE SYSTEM; APPLICATION FILED AUG-30. 191s.

' 1,246,407. Patented Nov; 13, 1917.

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WITNESSES: INVENTOR -7 f C/aa/ZeaPi'errera MhZ W UNITED STATES PATENTorrrc.

CHARLES P. FERRERO, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ELEVEN-TWENTIETI-IS TO CHARLES F. OCALLAHAN, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

LOOSE-LINE sYs'rEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 13, 1917.

Application filed August 30, 1915. Serial No. 47,948.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES P. FERRERO, a citizen of the United States,residing at the city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Loose-LineSystems, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a system of keeping posted amass of constantly changing data, which will be simple, cheap tomanufacture, and quickly and easily operated to locate any of the datatherein; possessing both the advantages of visibility, that is,presenting its reading matter to view at all times without handling theseparate cards of which it is composed, and elasticity, that is,removable and adjustable in its separate parts to receive new andadditional cards or to permit obsolete ones to be withdrawn.

In carrying out this object, I employ a shallow tray or holder tocontain a plurality of cards arranged on their lateral edges, each ofsaid cards being thick enough at its exposed face to receive writing,and received in the base of the tray, with its upper edge projectingabove the sides thereof to permit ready access for removal, and held inplace by a marginal cover carried by said tray; and a container orcabinet to receive a plurality of such trays.

One form which my invention may assume is exemplified in the followingdescription and illustrated in the accompanying drawing. in which Figure1 shows a front elevation of the assembled device.

Fig. 2 shows a plan view of one of the trays.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional view of the tray.

Referring in detail to the form of my invention illustrated in thedrawing, it will be seen to comprise a shallow tray or holder A,provided with a bottom 10 and sides 11, and hinged to the back of one ofsaid sides is a cover frame B formed of downwardly projecting sides 12and marginal upper; sides 13.

In the tray is arranged a cards 0, each of elongated rectangular shape,formed of a body portion 14 of tar, straw=board, wood, or other suitablematerial, covered over by a strip of thin writ plurality of ing paper15, or coated with other suitable material. The thickness of thecards ispreferably approximately that of a single line space; These cards arestood 1 on their lateral edges and completely fill the tray, with theirupper portions projecting above the sides thereof so that an operatordesiring to remove any individual card may do so without disturbing theothers merely by engaging it with his fingers at the upper end corners.When the cover frame is down, its sides 12 inclose the projectingportions of the cards and overlap the sides of the tray.

A cabinet 16 is preferably provided, and has a number of spaces 17, eachof a size to slidably receive a tray A. A device 18 is provided for eachtray for pulling the same out of the cabinet.

In practical use, I find my new loose line system to be particularlysuited for keeping a record of constantly changing data, such as isfound in the real estate business. Therefore, as shown, I provide aheading 19, consisting of some such matter as List of city real estatefor sale printed upon the edge of the upper card. Immediately beneaththis is a card bearing column headlines 20, such as Kind of property,No. of rooms, Size of lot, etc., and below the head-lines all of thecards are ruled to agree with such heading, so that the whole gives theeffect of a ruled ledger or journal page, with each item in its owncolumn. Then when a certain property so listed is disposed of, theoperator merely removes the card representing the same, sliding theothers up to close the space, and inserting elsewhere a blank or newlyfilled out card to maintain the tray filled. \Vith all cards in positionand filling the tray, the operator may easily write the desired date onany one of the cards, the face of such cards being preferably equal tothe thickness of a typewritten line. When one side of a card has beenused and the information thereon becomes obsolete, it may be reversedand its opposite side used.

For other uses than that already mentioned, it might be desirable toform the e cards of increased depth, utilizing the space at the sidesthereof for detailed information, while the top or upper edge wouldconstitute an index of what the card contained on its side. Thus in anaccount system, in looking for certain memo.-,- the top surface willdisclose it at a glance Without the necessity of fingering the cards.

Other forms and uses of my card system may be employed Without departingfrom the spirit of my invention as disclosed in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is A card bookkeepi11g system including a tray, a seriesof cards in said tray set on edge therein, the top and bottom edges ofthe cards being of a thickness substantially equal to the Width of aline of typewriting,

the card at the top of the tray adapted to receive data indicating thetray contents, a cover frame fitted over the tray and comprising sidemembers, and right angled upper flanges formed to engage over the endsof the upper edges of the cards to hold the same in position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses.

CHARLES P. FERRERO. Witnesses 7M. I. SEEGAL, RIGHARQ E. CALLAHAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O.

